Carriage feed mechanism for combined typewriting and computing machines



N. CAPELLARO ETAL 2,875,882 CARRIAGE FEED MECHANISM FOR COMBINED March3, 1959 TYPEWRITING AND COMPUTING MACHINES Filed Jan. 29, 1958 l/ VE N7'0/75 NATALE CAPELLARO TERssIo GASSINO ,4 TTORNE YS CARRIAGE FEEDMECHANISM FOR COMBINED TYPEWRITING AND COMPUTING MACHINES NataleCapellaro and Teresio Gassino, Ivrea, Italy, as-

signors to lug. C. Olivetti & 'C., S. p. A., Ivrea, Italy, a corporationof Italy Application January 29, 1958, Serial No. 711,837 Claimspriority, application Italy February 9, 1957 6 'Claims.- 01. 197-82 Thisinvention relates to paper carriage feed mechanisms for combinedtypewriting and computing machines, wherein the carriage is adapted tobe moved through a continuous'run from one columnar position to another,as in tabulating strokes or carriage return strokes, andis also adaptedto be moved step by step for letter spacing.

The primary object of the invention is to provide a power operatedtraveling carriage which is moved with great speed in spite of itsgenerally highest inertia.

Another object of theinvention is to provide in such a machine a poweroperated letter spacing mechanism adapted to prevail over a poweroperated continuous feed a mechanism continuously engaging the carriage.

A further object of the invention is to provide in such a machine aletter spacing mechanism positively operable by a main operating shaftsubstantially during the extent of a full machine cycle. a

In accordance with the invention we provide in a combined typewritingand computing machine having a traveling paper carriage and power means,a power operated continuous feed mechanism including driving meansconstantly engaging said carriage and a yieldable coupling between saidpower means and said driving means. We further provide in said machine apower operated letter spacing mechanism including an advancing deviceengageable with said carriage and a substantially positive couplingbetween said power means and said advancing device, said positivecoupling being adapted to prevail over said yieldable coupling to enablethe carriage to be s 2 secured to a suitable driving means, such as apinion 19 constantly meshing with the rack bar 1.

In the drawing the drum 14 is in its uppermost position wherein theprojection 15 engages the adjacent projection 11 of the pinion 9.Rotation of the shaft 2 will thus be transmitted by means of thefritcion coupling 7 to shaft 8, drum 14, pinion 9, gear wheel 17 andpinion 19, which n CC forces the rack bar 1 leftwards.

The machine comprises manual means, not shown in the drawing, adapted tomove the drum 14 from its uppermost to a lowermost position wherein theprojection 16 will. engage the projection 12 of the pinion 10, and therack bar 1 will be forced rightwards.

- member comprising a pair of However, the rack bar 1 is normally lockedin a co- I lumnar position of the carriage against the continuous actionof the pinion 19 by a normally effective locking pawls 20 and 21 urgedupwards by a pair of springs 22 and 23, respectively. The pawls 20 and21 are provided with opposed teeth in order to positively lock themovement of the rack bar 1 in both directions. The pawls 20 and 21 arefurther provided with projections 24 and 25, respectively, which aresimultaneously engageable by the rear end of a lever 26.

The machine is provided with manipulative means, not shown in thedrawing, operable to initiate a continuous run of the carriage from onecolumnar position to anletter spaced notwithstanding the constantengagement of I said continuous feed mechanism.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent fromthe following detailed description of apreferred embodiment thereof,taken in connection with v the accompanying drawing which is aperspective view of the carriage feed mechanism according to theinvention embodied in a combined typewriting and computing machine. a

Referring to the drawing, the numeral 1 indicates the conventional rackbar secured to the paper carriage of the machine, not shown in thedrawing. The numeral 2 indicates a power means such as a shaft 2 of acontinuously running electric motor 3. A worm gear 4 secured tov theshaft 2 drives a, continuous .feed mechanism which will now bedescribed. I I

More specifically, the worm gear 4 meshes with a companion worm wheel 5secured to a vertical shaft 6. A yieldable coupling such as a frictionjoint 7 yieldably connects the shaft of pinions 9 and 10 rotatablymounted on the shaft 8, but prevented from axially sliding thereon. Theshaft 8 is provided with a radial pin 13 cooperating with a pe-,

6 with a similar shaft 8 carrying a pair other, such as a tabluatingstroke or a carriage return stroke. When said manipulative means areoperated the lever 26 will be rocked clockwise and latched in the rockedposition The lever 26 thus disengages the pawls 20 and 21 from the rackbar 1 releasing the carriage which will now be continuously moved by theshaft 2 in the direction according to the position of the drum 14. Therun of the carirage will be stopped in a predetermined columnar positionby conventional stop means adapted to release the lever 26 to reengagethe pawls 20 and 21 with the rack bar 1.

The alphabetical typewriting device of the machine may be of the typedescribed in the copending application Serial No. 480,941, filed January10, 1955, and is actuated by a main shaft 43 rotatable through a singlecycle for each character to be written. More specifically, upondepression of a key of the keyboard of the typewriting device aconventional one-revolution clutch 45 is released to condition the mainshaft 43 to be cyclically rotated by the shaft-2 through a gear wheel49, a gear wheel 48 secured toa shaft 47 and a friction joint 46. Theaction of this joint is very strong, whereby the shaft 43 may beconsidered as being substantially positively driven by the power shaft2.

The main shaft 43 operates a letter spacing mechanism for the carriagewhich will now be described.

The rack bar 1 is engageable by an advancing device comprising anadvancingmember such as a pinion 27 meshing therewith and adapted-to bedriven by a normally ineffective clutch formed of a tooth 31 engageablewith a toothed wheel 28 secured by means of a hub 29 to the pinion 27.The toothed wheel 28 is rotatably mounted on a vertical shaft 30, whilethe tooth 31 projects from a drum 32 formed of a pair of disks 33, 34secured to a hub 35. The drum 32 is axially slidable on the shaft 30 andis rotated thereby by means of a projection 36 secured to the shaft.Also secured to the shaft 30 is a worm wheel 37 meshing with a Worm gear38 secured to a gear wheel 40 by means of a short shaft 39. The gearwheel 40 is constantly meshing with a pair of pinions 41,

A lever secured to a shaft 51 is provided with a carriage leftwards.

amas

forked ear 52 engaging the disk 34 of the drum 32. Another bent ear 53of the lever 50 is urged by a spring to a ns a h 55 t a ever .5 This leer. is secured to a shaft 57 and is urged by a spring'58to cooperatewith a cam 59 secured to the main shaft 43. An arin 60 is also securedto the shaft 57 and is adapted to engage the lever 26, I 7

Upon releasing the clutch 45 the main shaft 43 starts rotating, wherebyfirst the cam 59 rocks, the lever.56 clockwise and the heel 55 releasesthe car 53. The lever 50 is thus rocked counterclockwise bythe spring 54whereby on one side the ear 53 latches the lever 56in the rockedposition and on the other side the forked end 52 moves the drum 32upwards thus engaging thetooth 31 with the wheel 28. Therefore, thepinion 27 is now coupled to the worm wheel 37, the lever 56 so operatedby the main shaft 43 having rendered theclutch 28, 31 efiective toenable the advancing pinion 2 7 tobe driven by the-main shaft 43. Atthesaine time the arm 60 rocking bodily with the lever 56 engages thelever 26 and pulls down the pawls 20 and 21, thus releasing the rackbar 1. It. will thus be apparent that the lever 56 and the arm 60 areoperable for alternately engaging the locking member and the advancingdevice with the rack bar 1.

Normally, as when the main shaft 43 is operated for a typewriting cycleor a spacing cycle the hub 44 engages the pinion 41, which by means ofthe wheel 40, worm gears38 and 37 and pinion 27 will advance the Theworm gears 37 and 38 are adapted to so reduce the motion of the shaft 43that a complete revolution of the latter will advance the rack bar 1through a single letter feed step, whereby during the typewriting cyclesthe carriage is advanced step by step. Furthermore, it will be apparentthat the letter spacing mechanism is operable .by the shaft 43 duringthe extent of a full machine cycle. 7

The shaft 43 is also cycled upon depression of the conventional backspace key, not shown in the drawing. However, this key is adapted tomove the hub 44 leftwards. The hub 44 will now engage the pinion 42,whereby the rack bar 1 will be moved step by step rightwards.

During the step by step movement of the carriage the shaft 2 rotates themain shaft 43 as wellas the vertical shaft 6,- whereby the rack bar 1 isurged both by the pinions 19 and 27. However, it is to be noted that thefriction'joint 46 is so strong as to prevail over the friction joint 7which will slip, whereby the continuous feed mechanism driven by thefriction joint 7 will not prevent the carriage from being moved step bystep irrespective of the engagement of the pinion 19'with the rack bar1.

Upon completion of the cycle of the shaft 43 the lever 56 remainslatched by the ear 53 in its rocked position. Consequently, the pawls 20and 21 remain disengaged from the rack bar 1 and the tooth 31 continuesengaging the pinion 28. Now the tooth 31 instead of the pawls 20 and 21locks the carriage,

In order to reset the various parts in their normal position shown inthedrawing, a cam 61 is secured to the shaft 2 and is adapted tocooperate with a lever 62.

This lever is provided with a bent car 63 adapted to engage a projection64 of a lever 65 linked to an arm 66 secured to the shaft 51. A spring67 urges the projection 64 to abut the rear edge of a slot 68 formed ina slide 69 adapted to be moved horizontally, Normally the slide 69 holdsthe projection 64 out of the vertical path of the ear 63 and the lever62 is oscillated idly by the cam 61. I

Upon operation of the manipulative means initiating a continuous run ofthe carriage, the lever 26 will be rocked clockwise and latched in itsrocked position irrespective of the arm 60. by the means described inthecited application Serial No. 48Q,94 l with reference Furthermore,said manipulato the lever 70of Fig. 1.

4 tive means when so operated are adapted by known means to move theslide 69 rearwards. The slide 69 enables now the projection 64 to beplaced by the spring 67 into the vertical path of the ear 63.

Upon the first ensuing rotation of the motor shaft 2 the cam 61 rocksthe lever 62 whose ear 63 now engages the projection 64 and pulls thelever 65, whereby arm 66, shaft 51 and lever 50 are rocked clockwise.The bent car 53 of the lever 50 thus releases the lever 56 which isreturned to rest by the spring 58, thus relatching the lever 50 by meansof the heel 55. The lever 50 in turn moves downwards the drum 32,disengaging the tooth 31 from the wheel 28. The carriage is now freefrom any engagement both by the letter spacing mechanism and by thelocking member and the pinion 19 may resume the continuous feeddescribed above.

While the form of the mechanism herein shown and described is admirablyadapted to fulfill the'objects pri-. marily stated, it is to beunderstood that it is not intended that the invention shall be confinedto the particular embodiment disclosed herein but rather that it shallextend to all structures employing the principles taught herein.

What we claim is:

1. In a machine of the class described having a traveling paper carriageadapted to move through a continuous run from one columnar position toanother and also movable step by step to be letter-spaced, and powermeans, the combination of a power operated continuous feed mechanismincluding driving means constantly engaging said carriage and ayieldable coupling between said power means and said driving means, anda power operated letter spacing mechanism including an advancingdeviceengageable with said carriage and a substantially positivecouplingbetween said power means and said advancing device, saidpositive coupling being'adapted to prevail over said yieldable couplingto enable the carriage to be letter spaced notwithstanding the constantengagement of said continuous feed mechanism.

2. In a machine of the class described having a traveling paper carriageadapted tomove through a continuous run from one columnar position toanother and also movable step by step to be letter-spaced, thecombination of a rack bar on said carriage, a normally effective lockingmember engageable with said rack bar for locking said carriage in one ofsaid columnar positions, power means, a yieldable coupling continuouslyoperated by said power means, driving means driven by said coupling and.engaging said rack bar to move said carriage through said continuousrun when said locking member is ineffective, an advancing devicesubstantially positively operated by said power means and engageablewith said rack bar to move said carriage step by stepv irrespective ofthe engagement of said driving means, and means for alter natelyengaging said locking member and said advancing device with said rackbar. a

3. Ina machine of the class described having atraveling paper carriageadapted to move through a continuous run from one columnar position toanother and also movable step by step to be, letters-spaced, thecombination of a rack bar on said carriage, a locking member normallyengaging said rack bar for locking said carriage in one of said columnarpositions, power means, a yieldable coupling continuously operated bysaid power means, driving means driven by said couplingand engaging saidrack bar to move said carriage through said continuous run when saidlocking member is disengaged from said rack bar, said power meansincluding amain shaft cyclically driven in alphabetic typewritiirg, anormally'inelfective clutch operable by saidmain shaft, an advancingmember driven by said clutch and engaging said rack bar to move saidcarriage step by step irrespective of the engagement of said drivingmeans, and means operble y S i ain s af o, r nder aidcl tch e f ctiv andto disengage said locking member from said rack bar.

4. A machine as claimed in claim 3, characterized in that said advancingmember is formed of a pinion adapted to advance said rack bar one stepduring one cycle of said main shaft.

5. In a machine of the class described having a traveling paper carriageadapted to move through a continuous run from one columnar position toanother and also movable step by step to be letter-spaced, thecombination of a rack bar on said carriage, a locking member normallyengaging said rack for locking said carriage in one of said columnarpositions, power means, a yieldable coupling continuously operated bysaid power means, driving means driven by said coupling and engagingsaid rack bar to move said carriage through said continuous run whensaid locking member is disengaged from said rack bar, said power meansincluding a main shaft cyclically driven in alphabetic typewriting, aclutch operable by said main shaft, said clutch being normally latchedin an effective position, an advancing member driven by said clutch andengaging said rack bar to move said carriage step by step irrespectiveof the engagement of said driving means, and means movable by said mainshaft to an operating position for disengaging said locking member fromsaid rack bar and for releasing said clutch, said clutch when soreleased being adapted to latch said movable means in said operatingposition after said cycle.

6. In amachine as claimed in claim 5, a manually controlled elementoperable by said power means to release said movable means uponinitiating a continuous run after a letter spacing movement of saidcarriage.

No references cited.

